Marathon: A Pain In The Neck

Marathon Monthly March 2019 Physical Therapy

Is Your Digital Lifestyle Affecting Your Posture? It’s time to discuss the affects of text neck.

Poorposture issomethingwenormallydonot think of as a contributor to neck and back pain. However, in our era of constantly being on smart phones, tablets, and computers, we often put our necks and backs in positions of prolonged stress. Over time, this contributes to increased stress to our vertebrae, disc and muscles supporting the spine. Text neck is the term used to describe the neck pain and damage sustained from looking down at your cell phone, tablet, or other wireless devices too frequently and for too long. Of course, this posture of bending your neck to look down does not occur only when texting. For years, we’ve all looked down to read. The problem with texting is that itaddsonemoreactivity thatcausesus to look down—and people tend to do it for much longer periods. It is especially concerning because young, growing children could possibly cause permanent damage to their cervical spines that could lead to lifelong neck pain. We often see patients who have suffered from back and neck pain for years who could have been treated very easily when the pain started with simple postural corrections and stretches. If you have been suffering from back or neck pain, come see one of our therapists for an assessment of what is contributing to your pain.

TOP HACKS TO KEEP YOU OFF YOUR PHONE 1. Move your phone elsewhere when you sit down. 2. Turn off notifications. 3. Choose an end point for your browsing session. 4. Don’t use your phone in bed. 5. Take distracting apps off your home screen. 6. Set your phone to grayscale. 7. Delete social media apps from your phone. 8. Turn your phone off.

(516) 487-9810

www.marathonptny.com

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